Rugby 365 - Team of the Week

 Team of the Week - Preliminary play-offs:

15 - Israel Dagg (Crusaders):
Slim pickings this week, but he remains a class player.
Bubbling under: Jesse Mogg (Brumbies)

14 - Willie le Roux (Cheetahs):
You can pick him anywhere from No.15 to No.9, as he plays in all those positions in the course of the match. The best thing a coach can do with Le Roux is 'just let him play', as he will cause havoc.
Bubbling under: Tom Marshall (Crusaders)

13 - Ryan Crotty (Crusaders):
Another position where we had slim pickings. However, Crotty did enough - despite a conceding a penalty and missing a couple of tackles.
Bubbling under: Ben Tapuai (Reds)

12 - Robert Ebersohn (Cheetahs):
This caused plenty of debate, but in the end we went for Ebersohn - as he made more tackles than Christian Lealiifano and had more runs for more metres gained. Lealiifano's biggest attribute was his goal-kicking, although he missed of his six attempts at goal.
Bubbling under: Christian Lealiifano (Brumbies)

11 - Zac Guilford (Crusaders):
Made all his tackles and had 13 runs, for 125 metres gained. He also didn't have much competition.
Bubbling under: Raymond Rhule (Cheetahs)    

10 - Daniel Carter (Crusaders):
In a class of his own.
Bubbling under: Matt Toomua (Brumbies)

9 - Will Genia (Reds):
Even when he had a bad day at the office, which included four missed tackles, he still managed to garner enough 'votes'.
Bubbling under: Sarel Pretorius (Cheetahs)

8 - Kieran read (Crusaders):
Always plays with a smile on his face. But then, winning is so much more fun.
Bubbling under: Ben Mowen (Brumbies)

7 - Matt Todd (Crusaders):
You can see why there it is being suggested that Richie McCaw should start playing on the blindside flank.
Bubbling under: George Smith (Brumbies)

6 - Heinrich Brüssow (Cheetahs):
This performance will only raise more questions about his absence from the national team. and then we are not even taking into consideration those two kicks which travelled a combined 112 metres.
Bubbling under: George Whitelock (Crusaders)

5 - Sam Whitelock (Crusaders):
What can we say - the highest tackle count, without missing a single tackle, carried the ball and did the basics well. However, it was that brilliant break that really impressed us.
Bubbling under: Rynhard Landman (Cheetahs)

4 - Luke Romano (Crusaders):
Like his locking partner it was his impressive workrate on defence, to go with some good carries and breakdown efficiency.
Bubbling under: Lodewyk de Jager (Cheetahs)

3 - Owen Franks (Crusaders):
There is something special about the Crusaders' tight forwards, especially on defence, that sets them apart.
Bubbling under: Ben Alexander (Brumbies)

2 - Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs):
Some interesting debate around this position, but majority rule.
Bubbling under: Corey Flynn (Crusaders)

1 - Wyatt Crockett (Crusaders):
Another position where we simply could not agree, but the majority felt his high penalty/free-kick count should not be a factor.
Bubbling under: Coenie Oosthuizen (Cheetahs)

Just like to point out a few things to two people in particular.

Sasuke, who's that at right wing? Oh yes Willie Le Roux.

Mozart, who's that bubbling under Crokett? Oh yes Oosthuizen .

You may say that this isn't accurate or whatever but 4 individual critics of rugby who now more about Rugby are likely to now who played well and who didn't.

Oh and Mike looks like you're assessment on Franks and Crokett was wrong.

@shezza,

three things i want u take note of,,,,

1) u seem to have taken my comments on willie le roux a bit personal and u shouldnt cos as i mentioned, im sure my opinion especially here are of the minority and as critical as it was, my comments had merit. it sounds like u may have a connection to willie on personal level, either that or ur just a big willie fan boy which i can relate to as president of the McCaw fan club, :o)

2) it is stupid to think that just because that 4 individual critics may know more then someone like me just cos im an armchiar critic who watches and plays only at grassroots.
they probably know a lot more about rugby then i ever will, but dont believe everything u hear as gospel shezza, cos thats a road best not traveled.
and i doubt these 4 know more then me if these clowns are willing to put willie le roux ahead of tom marshall based only on the performances on in the weekend just been.
let me guess those 4 critics can trace their roots back to SA???

3) but lets get address that comment of urs straight away, williele roux was better then marshall last weekend??? time for me to demyth another pile of horse shit.
 

so lets break the performance of tom marshall and willie le roux down -

tries scored
marshall 1
willie 0

runs with ball in hand
marshall 14
willie 9

meters made
marshall 105 meters
willie 11 meters (pffffffffffffffffffffffft)

line breaks
marshall 4
willie 0

tackle breaks
marshall 3
willie 0

off loads
marshall 2
willie 2

turnovers
marshall 0
willie 1

penalties conceded
marshall 1
willie 1

keep in mind that while technically not a handling error, willie did pass the ball to no one which ended up being turned over to the brumbies, as well as that infamous little chip from inside his own 22 which was also turned over and the chip when the cheetahs had the pressure on the brumbies and were 5 mtrs fromt he try line.
those fuck ups werent recorded in the stats, but make no mistake, they were errors on his part.

and ur trying to tell me that those 4 lab monkeys who came up with this team of the week know more then me??? each to their own, but the them saying willie over marshall has this argument clearly in my favour.

quick question for u though shezza, did u think willie was better then marshall???

quick question for anybody, did anyone think that willie le roux was better then tom marshall last weekend???

And where was Coenie bubbling under? That's right Sheila....at loosehead

Stats really don't take things into context such as the quality of the opposition, Brumbies are twice the team the Reds are. Also doesn't take into account the influence of the ref, especially in the Brumbies vs Cheetahs match where the ref may of been consistent but affected the way the game was played.

In same the circumstances, Marshall wouldn't of played as well as Le Roux but I will admit that Marshall played better this weekend and that's not to say Willie played as bad as you would make out.

The miss pass was more of a lack of communication.

But if Coenie had such a negative effect when he was moved to tighthead then surely he would've not been considered. 

I agree with you sasuke. Also Genia!?!?!?